2026 ballot measure forecast

Indiana Public Question #1

Allow judges to deny bail to dangerous defendants

Amends Article 1, Section 17 so courts may deny bail to people charged with offenses other than murder or treason when proof is evident and the state shows by clear and convincing evidence that no release conditions can protect the community. The forecast has Yes at 76.2 percent against the 50 percent it needs, a >99% chance to pass.

Very likely to passConstitutional amendment referred by the legislatureCriminal justiceUpdated October 22, 2026
Chance to pass
>99%
2,000 simulations
Forecast Yes
76.2%
80% range 65 to 84
Needs
50%
a simple majority
Polling average
None
No public polls found
Where the Yes vote lands
needs 50
2035506580
History and structure
76.2% Yes
Polls
None
Forecast
76.2% Yes
Yes leans
Republican
Rule to pass
Majority of voters on the question. SJR 1 first passed 2023, second passage Feb 2026 (House 75-11).
The campaign

Yes: Sen. Eric Koch and Rep. Chris Jeter, Republican legislative leadership. No: legislative Democrats and civil liberties critics; no organized campaign or money reported.

Public Question #1 by county

Adams CountyAllen CountyBartholomew CountyBenton CountyBlackford CountyBoone CountyBrown CountyCarroll CountyCass CountyClark CountyClay CountyClinton CountyCrawford CountyDaviess CountyDearborn CountyDecatur CountyDeKalb CountyDelaware CountyDubois CountyElkhart CountyFayette CountyFloyd CountyFountain CountyFranklin CountyFulton CountyGibson CountyGrant CountyGreene CountyHamilton CountyHancock CountyHarrison CountyHendricks CountyHenry CountyHoward CountyHuntington CountyJackson CountyJasper CountyJay CountyJefferson CountyJennings CountyJohnson CountyKnox CountyKosciusko CountyLaGrange CountyLake CountyLaPorte CountyLawrence CountyMadison CountyMarion CountyMarshall CountyMartin CountyMiami CountyMonroe CountyMontgomery CountyMorgan CountyNewton CountyNoble CountyOhio CountyOrange CountyOwen CountyParke CountyPerry CountyPike CountyPorter CountyPosey CountyPulaski CountyPutnam CountyRandolph CountyRipley CountyRush CountySt. Joseph CountyScott CountyShelby CountySpencer CountyStarke CountySteuben CountySullivan CountySwitzerland CountyTippecanoe CountyTipton CountyUnion CountyVanderburgh CountyVermillion CountyVigo CountyWabash CountyWarren CountyWarrick CountyWashington CountyWayne CountyWells CountyWhite CountyWhitley CountyMarionLakeHamiltonAllenSt. JosephPorterHendricksJohnsonVanderburghTippecanoeElkhartMonroe
No +30Yes +30Click a county to zoom · arrow keys step through counties by size
Where the margin is won
Marion County: Yes +81,591Hamilton County: Yes +57,190Lake County: Yes +56,256Allen County: Yes +49,066St. Joseph County: Yes +30,796Hendricks County: Yes +26,271Johnson County: Yes +26,111Porter County: Yes +24,841Elkhart County: Yes +23,334Vanderburgh County: Yes +22,180Tippecanoe County: Yes +19,511Clark County: Yes +18,119Madison County: Yes +17,910Hancock County: Yes +14,751LaPorte County: Yes +14,265Delaware County: Yes +14,187Morgan County: Yes +12,995Howard County: Yes +12,967Monroe County: Yes +12,845Kosciusko County: Yes +12,843Vigo County: Yes +12,843Floyd County: Yes +12,361Boone County: Yes +12,229Bartholomew County: Yes +11,450Warrick County: Yes +10,803Dearborn County: Yes +10,018Grant County: Yes +8,891Wayne County: Yes +8,866Lawrence County: Yes +7,667Dubois County: Yes +7,389Henry County: Yes +7,358Harrison County: Yes +7,181Shelby County: Yes +7,057DeKalb County: Yes +6,999Jackson County: Yes +6,949Noble County: Yes +6,912Marshall County: Yes +6,810Whitley County: Yes +6,371Huntington County: Yes +6,324Putnam County: Yes +6,173Montgomery County: Yes +5,936Jasper County: Yes +5,822Gibson County: Yes +5,754Steuben County: Yes +5,689Knox County: Yes +5,514Ripley County: Yes +5,510Greene County: Yes +5,338Wells County: Yes +5,287Miami County: Yes +5,235Adams County: Yes +5,115Wabash County: Yes +5,067Cass County: Yes +5,040Jefferson County: Yes +4,810Franklin County: Yes +4,676Washington County: Yes +4,670Decatur County: Yes +4,578Daviess County: Yes +4,540Clay County: Yes +4,506Posey County: Yes +4,483Jennings County: Yes +4,460Clinton County: Yes +4,441LaGrange County: Yes +4,037White County: Yes +3,902Randolph County: Yes +3,864Starke County: Yes +3,783Scott County: Yes +3,677Fayette County: Yes +3,670Spencer County: Yes +3,592Owen County: Yes +3,547Carroll County: Yes +3,331Sullivan County: Yes +3,231Fulton County: Yes +3,198Orange County: Yes +3,120Fountain County: Yes +3,021Jay County: Yes +2,999Tipton County: Yes +2,875Rush County: Yes +2,813Brown County: Yes +2,799Perry County: Yes +2,787Vermillion County: Yes +2,526Parke County: Yes +2,502Newton County: Yes +2,460Pike County: Yes +2,200Pulaski County: Yes +2,103Martin County: Yes +1,893Blackford County: Yes +1,840Crawford County: Yes +1,766Warren County: Yes +1,623Switzerland County: Yes +1,582Benton County: Yes +1,398Union County: Yes +1,292Ohio County: Yes +1,133
Yes +909,715 net votes from 92 countiesStatewide Yes +52.4, a 909,715 vote marginNo +0 net votes from 0 counties

Projected vote

1,737,407 votes on the question
ChoiceVotesShare
Yes1,323,56176.2%
No413,84623.8%
Total1,737,407100%
CountyYesNoTotalYes share
Marion County150,08968,498218,58768.7%
Lake County90,60434,348124,95272.5%
Hamilton County87,25930,069117,32874.4%
Allen County72,90523,83996,74475.4%
St. Joseph County48,61017,81466,42473.2%
Porter County37,20912,36849,57775.1%
Hendricks County37,69811,42749,12576.7%
Johnson County35,7939,68245,47578.7%
Vanderburgh County32,93910,75943,69875.4%
Tippecanoe County30,56611,05541,62173.4%
Elkhart County32,2138,87941,09278.4%
Monroe County25,10312,25837,36167.2%
Clark County26,1107,99134,10176.6%
Madison County25,1907,28032,47077.6%
LaPorte County21,0696,80427,87375.6%
Delaware County20,8046,61727,42175.9%
Hancock County20,2605,50925,76978.6%
Vigo County18,6635,82024,48376.2%
Floyd County18,1465,78523,93175.8%
Boone County17,9155,68623,60175.9%
Howard County17,7154,74822,46378.9%
Bartholomew County16,0804,63020,71077.6%
Morgan County16,6623,66720,32982.0%
Kosciusko County16,5763,73320,30981.6%
Warrick County14,9974,19419,19178.1%
Wayne County12,2333,36715,60078.4%
Dearborn County12,6802,66215,34282.6%
Grant County11,8822,99114,87379.9%
Dubois County9,8542,46512,31980.0%
Lawrence County9,9382,27112,20981.4%
Henry County9,6432,28511,92880.8%
Harrison County9,4332,25211,68580.7%
Shelby County9,2382,18111,41980.9%
DeKalb County9,1922,19311,38580.7%
Marshall County9,0522,24211,29480.1%
Noble County8,9522,04010,99281.4%
Jackson County8,8831,93410,81782.1%
Huntington County8,2691,94510,21481.0%
Whitley County8,2871,91610,20381.2%
Putnam County7,9761,8039,77981.6%
Montgomery County7,7641,8289,59280.9%
Steuben County7,5961,9079,50379.9%
Gibson County7,4481,6949,14281.5%
Jasper County7,4671,6459,11281.9%
Knox County7,1641,6508,81481.3%
Greene County6,8601,5228,38281.8%
Ripley County6,9051,3958,30083.2%
Jefferson County6,5521,7428,29479.0%
Cass County6,6421,6028,24480.6%
Miami County6,7061,4718,17782.0%
Wells County6,7001,4138,11382.6%
Wabash County6,5761,5098,08581.3%
Adams County6,5941,4798,07381.7%
Posey County5,9611,4787,43980.1%
Washington County5,9781,3087,28682.0%
Clinton County5,8161,3757,19180.9%
Decatur County5,7891,2117,00082.7%
Clay County5,7291,2236,95282.4%
Franklin County5,8011,1256,92683.8%
Jennings County5,6341,1746,80882.8%
Daviess County5,6341,0946,72883.7%
White County5,1551,2536,40880.4%
LaGrange County5,1351,0986,23382.4%
Randolph County4,9641,1006,06481.9%
Starke County4,8901,1075,99781.5%
Spencer County4,7751,1835,95880.1%
Scott County4,7601,0835,84381.5%
Fayette County4,6781,0085,68682.3%
Owen County4,6041,0575,66181.3%
Carroll County4,3039725,27581.6%
Sullivan County4,1669355,10181.7%
Fulton County4,1459475,09281.4%
Perry County3,8821,0954,97778.0%
Orange County4,0309104,94081.6%
Brown County3,8601,0614,92178.4%
Jay County3,8348354,66982.1%
Tipton County3,7298544,58381.4%
Fountain County3,8017804,58183.0%
Rush County3,6077944,40182.0%
Vermillion County3,3418154,15680.4%
Parke County3,1806783,85882.4%
Newton County3,1286683,79682.4%
Pike County2,8176173,43482.0%
Pulaski County2,7025993,30181.9%
Blackford County2,3905502,94081.3%
Martin County2,3754822,85783.1%
Crawford County2,3065402,84681.0%
Warren County2,0614382,49982.5%
Switzerland County2,0084262,43482.5%
Benton County1,8364382,27480.7%
Union County1,6483562,00482.2%
Ohio County1,4483151,76382.1%

Projected 2026 votes: each county's expected turnout, less the roughly 6 percent of voters who skip a ballot question, times its forecast Yes share. The measure needs 50.0 percent Yes to pass.

Polls of the measure

no polls
PollsterSampleEndedYesNoUndecidedYes, adjusted
No public polls of this measure. The forecast rests on how comparable measures have run and how it reached the ballot.
How this is built
Public Question #1 is forecast as a criminal justice measure whose Yes vote leans Republican. Comparable measures from 2018 to 2024 set how far its Yes share moves with Indiana's partisanship and with each county's 2024 presidential vote, and how it reached the ballot moves it further. Polls then pull the forecast toward them by recency and size, after splitting undecided voters two to one for No. Sources: indianacapitalchronicle.com, fox19.com, in.gov, in.gov. All measures.